International Women's Day

It seems somewhat absurd that we need to have a day to recognize women. Not that it is absurd that some people devote some energy to recognizing the energies and effort that women contribute to the world's daily survival but rather that we need to make an special effort to recognize approximately 53% of the world's population. One would have hoped that a couple of thousand years ago, humankind would have accepted the fact that communities/societies function best when everyone has equal rights and opportunities. Certainly in light of the last 100 plus years of active advocacy on the part of women to achieve that equality of rights and access, it is understandable frustrating when some women feel as if they have barely got started on the path to true equality.

However, it needs to be noted that initially that path to equality was created with and for a very specific, and a rather small group of women: white and reasonably affluent. For example it was not until 1948 ( a year before I was born)  that the law allowing race to be used as legitimate reason to not be allowed to vote was repealed (voting rights) . The women's movement did little to advocate on behalf of those women who received the franchise decades after they did. In fact at least one of the leadership of the Canadian women's rights movement was quite clearly racist (the Walrus).  Similarly while there were occasionally some minimal protest at the working conditions of women, some women, specifically immigrant women, were forced in the early parts of the previous century to work 12-14 hours days, in horrendous conditions, for barely enough money to survive on (work). The wives and daughters of middle class and upper class men - those women who had the time to occasionally march, meet, write impassioned letters and to be a general irritant to the status quo appear not to have thought that those other women needed to be included in their demands for equality.

One needs to wonder if very much has changed. There is no doubt that those who are involved in the third wave of Feminism (3rd wave) are far more  aware of how race and class affect equality. It is also true that more non-white women are active participants in the movement . The focus however, on issues and the processes to resolve those issues appears to still be on middle class women who have the capacity to and the economic security to protest. For example I noted with some interest that there was a suggestion that one way women could "prove" how integral they are to the functioning of our communities would be for them not to go to work for a day.

What a great plan - if you have a secure job that allows you to take a day off without penalty. I somehow doubt that the part timers at the Dollar store, the workers at our extended care facilities who may work in two different homes as they never get enough hours in just one of them to survive on, or the hundreds of thousands of women who work part time at the Wal-Marts, food stores or restaurants can afford to miss work. They need the money and in many cases their bosses would be glad to hire a replacement from the long list of applicants whose resumes are stashed in his/her desk drawer if they took time off work to protest.

The need for change should be overwhelmingly obvious for any rational person in Canada. It is difficult to think of a sector of our economy that does not demonstrate a bias against women. In every imaginable arena of our society, women (with perhaps the exception of undergraduate university education) have less opportunity then do men. Women who are visibly from a minority or women who are immigrants face even greater challenges.   When we talk about  International Women's Day, the gains that have been made and all of the work that still needs to occur both in Canada and around the world, we need to remember to include all women in that conversation - especially those who may be less able to advocate for themselves because of class or race.